Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #817520 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

The Guardian
'She remains refreshingly free of the tendency towards
hand-wringing sentimentality and self-help pyscho babble'

Barry Forshaw, The Independent
'S is for Silence demonstrates why Grafton has such a dedicated following, with Millhone...trying to crack a particularly intractable mystery'

Barry Forshaw, The Independent
'Like her great predecessor Ross Macdonald, Grafton foregrounds characterisation at all times'

Customer Reviews

Grafton does it again !!
Grafton has an uncanny knack of grabbing your attention from the first page. 'S' is a gutsy novel which unlike 'R' does not centre around Kinsey's own life and very little takes place around Kinsey's own neighbourhood.
At the centre of the novel is an 1950's unsolved disappearance of a small town 'totty' and the story line dives in and out of peoples experiences around the time of the disappearance.
I found I got a bit confused at times as to what we were being told and what information Kinsey gleaned from her investigations, however you can't help but get involved in the comings and goings of the characters which gives this book the 'cant put it down' appeal. Some of the plot is a bit woolly and incredible however the only significant criticism I can give 'S' is that I felt Grafton almost hurried the ending, giving the impression that she was in a hurry to get it finished and this somewhat weakened the plot overall. Even though the alleged killer shows their hand eventually, you are still left with many unanswered questions which you know will never get referred to in the 'T' book. However I cannot wait for 'T' and hope that Grafton can churn it out quick enough that I can read them all before I leave for that great library in the sky !!

"S" Is For Super
"When Liza Mellincamp thinks about the last time she saw Violet Sullivan, what comes most to mind is the color of Violet's Japanese silk kimono, a shade of blue that Liza later learned was called "cerulean" a word that wasn't even in her vocabulary when she was fourteen years old."

Kinsey Millhorne is asked to help solve a thirty-four year old mystery. "What happened to Violet? She just disappeared." by her daughter, Daisy. Daisy has been unable to get past this loss of her mother at a very young age. This loss has flavored her entire life, she drinks too much, she goes from man to man and her life is unhappy. Now she just has to know what happened, even if it involves her father.

Violet Sullivan was the town "TRAMP" according to many people. She had an abusive husband, she sported bumps and bruises and ended up at the town watering hole on a nightly basis. Liza Mellincamp babysat for Daisy and loved Violet. Violet became a
mother of sorts, someone who listened, someone who cared. And, then Violet went missing in her new Bel Air Coupe. Everyone in the small town of Serena Station thought she had run off with another man. A small town talks and everyone seems to know everyone else's business. However, this business was never solved. A fresh eye, a young detective, who was smart and adept at finding clues everyone else misses, Kinsey Millhone. She ruffles feathers, talks to everyone in town and learns their secrets. She put two plus two together and little by little she uncovers some interesting facts.

Sue Grafton is a grandmother and a writer of renown. She has piqued my interest in her mystery series with this new book. She has followed the alphabet with her novels, and we are now at "S". In my mind, this is one of the best. She has been able to deftly examine and disclose the behaviors and personalities of many of the people she meets. She aptly describes the scene, the food, the atmosphere and the sense of the time. She gradually uncovers one clue to find the next. And, she also does re-play. The character goes back thirty-four years and replays the scene that is important to the story. A fresh approach that helps to make this mystery so much more exciting. We try to guess " who done it" and it is not until the end of the book that we are shocked. The ending is a bit brief and the implication leaves a lot to wonder about it. All in all, well done. Recommended. prisrob 1-05-06

Good thriller, and no need to read all the previous books
With a long-running series like this one, it can be difficult for a newcomer to know whether you'll enjoy the most recent addition. If all the back story, regular characters and previous adventures play a prominent part in the new adventure then a first-time reader can feel a bit lost.
That's not the case with S is for Silence.
It's a great place to start if you haven't read any of the other books.

I have read all of Sue Grafton's alphabet series, and generally enjoy the adventures of private eye Kinsey Millhone. They tend to be medium-to-lightweight thrillers; almost like traditional whodunnits with a little spice of modern life. They aren't the sort which are packed full of sadistic psycho-murderers at every turn and a bodycount reaching into the dozens.
Instead, Kinsey normally has one or two crimes to resolve and while there is always a hint of personal danger (it would be dull if not!), the entertainment comes from following the clues and from the pleasant buzz of familiarity when Kinsey visits her regular haunts and meets familiar people.

Sue Grafton has changed her writing style for this book, and has veered away from the repetition of those familiar faces. So if you stopped reading the series because 'they all seemed the same' then this is a good one to pick up. The story revolves around the plot and the personalities involved in the crime -- it's much more of a whodunnit and a lot less of a soap-opera about Kinsey's personal life.

Overall, it has reinvigorated the series and leaves me much more likely to pick up T is for ??Trouble?? when it comes out.